Are you super frustrated from having knee pain after running or maybe while you’re running? You have tried a number of different things, nothing seems to completely get rid of it, and you’ve just about had it! You might be thinking of possibly stopping running or just dealing with the pain? I’m here to tell you, you CAN run without pain! I’ve helped hundreds of my clients get back to running without pain following these exercises for runners knee pain! They might be a little different then what you’ve seen before, but they make the world of difference!
With most of my clients struggling with runners knee it comes down to 2 things: your breathing and your alignment! You want those two things working together to optimize your performance!
When you use your diaphragm properly, you’re using your core strategy (diaphragm, lower abdominals (transverse abdominus), deep back stabilizers (multifidi), and pelvic floor muscles). This is great news for you because you are working on neuromuscular patterning, which you will notice a difference right away verses waiting for strengthening that can take weeks!
Give these Exercises for Runners Knee Pain a try!
Each only takes about 5-10x each side….it’s all about the breathing and alignment!
Side Plank
Make sure you are set up with hips, shoulders, and ankles in line. Press into your forearm and on your exhale press your hips up and press the top knee into your bottom knee. By doing this you are using you’re pelvis stabilizing muscle (glute med) and your opposite adductor muscle to help each other work better. These are synergistic muscles and that glute med muscles super important for runners! This can also be done in a full side plank or at the wall.
Lunge Rotation
Make sure you have a slight arch in your low back and to not flare your rib cage up. On your exhale bring the arm over head to your opposite hip. Repeat this 8-10x each side. Really check to see what muscles are firing.
Vastus lateralis (outside quad muscle) Myofascial Release
This one is amazing!!! You are looking for those oh hurts, but feeling good kind of spots. You can hold on those spots and breathe or bend and straighten your knee. Careful with this one because you can overdo it, more is not necessarily better. 30-60 seconds each spot and look for 3-5 spots
Want more exercises for runners knee pain?
Click for more advanced exercises!
Are you loving the rolling exercise? Want some more? Get your guide to 7 Moves for Mobility and Pain Relief
Remember it’s all about your breath and alignment to optimize your movement! You can get back to running without knee pain.
Still have some questions?
Let’s chat! Happy to jump on a 15 minute call to help problem solve!
Happy Running!
